fort richmond university heights - neighbourhood€¦ · · 2017-05-17fort richmond university...

Ft Richmond / University Heights Residents Association www.NeighbourhoodAssociation.ca

Email: [email protected]

Fort Richmond University Heights

Neighbourhood Vision & Action Plan

http://www.neighbourhoodassociation.ca/



Contents Fort Richmond University Heights ........................................................................................................... 1

Neighbourhood Vision & Action Plan ...................................................................................................... 1

Mission – Vision – Goals ........................................................................................................................... 4

Mission ..................................................................................................................................................... 4

Vision ........................................................................................................................................................ 4

Goals ........................................................................................................................................................ 4

Top Concerns from Community Members ............................................................................................. 6

University of Manitoba ............................................................................................................................... 6

Protecting Students .................................................................................................................................... 6

Action and Goals ........................................................................................................................................ 7

Licensing requirements ......................................................................................................................... 7

Progress Updates on Licensing Requirements ............................................................................. 7

City of Winnipeg By-laws ...................................................................................................................... 8

Updates on By-laws changes ........................................................................................................... 8

Fire Inspections & Illegal Rooming Houses ....................................................................................... 8

Updates on Fire Safety ...................................................................................................................... 8

City of Winnipeg...................................................................................................................................... 9

Homestay, Home share & Student Co-op housing ........................................................................... 9

Increase Legal & Affordable Student Housing Close to Campus ................................................. 10

Updates on Affordable Student Housing ...................................................................................... 10

Continued Cooperation with University of Manitoba ....................................................................... 10

Updates .............................................................................................................................................. 11

Mortgage and Insurance Institutions ................................................................................................. 11

Association Funding ............................................................................................................................. 11

Community Development .................................................................................................................... 11

Actions already taken .......................................................................................................................... 12




Fort Richmond Zoning ............................................................................................................................. 13

Fort Richmond Statistics ......................................................................................................................... 14

Population Statistics ............................................................................................................................. 14

Rental vs Ownership Statistics ........................................................................................................... 14

Housing Prices ...................................................................................................................................... 15

Income Statistics .................................................................................................................................. 15

Languages Spoken .............................................................................................................................. 15

Age of Population ................................................................................................................................. 16

University of Manitoba Statistics ............................................................................................................ 17

Glossery of Terms .................................................................................................................................... 18

Reference Documents ............................................................................................................................. 18

OurWinnipeg ......................................................................................................................................... 18

Complete Communities ....................................................................................................................... 18

Visionary (re)Generation Master Plan ............................................................................................... 19

Winnipeg Zoning By-law 200/06 ........................................................................................................ 19

Winnipeg’s Community Incentive Grant Program ........................................................................... 19

Change Log .................................................................................................................................................. 19




Mission – Vision – Goals

Mission

The Fort Richmond University Heights Neighbourhood Association is here to promote a

safe, diverse and family-friendly community.

Vision

Fort Richmond University Heights will be a vibrant, safe and diverse neighbourhood

where people take pride in their property, and work together to foster a strong sense of

community.

Goals

1. Uphold and celebrate the beauty and quality of life in the Fort Richmond

University Heights community and surrounding areas.

2. Educate homeowners, tenants and landlords about their rights and

responsibilities.

3. Provide a variety of opportunities for community members to volunteer for the

betterment of their neighbourhood.

4. Work to prevent the exploitation of tenants by unethical landlords.

5. Identify and report dangerous and illegal housing.

6. Research best practices used in addressing university/neighbourhood housing

relations in similar communities.

7. Work with City of Winnipeg zoning and community by-laws Task Force to enable




stronger and timely enforcement

8. Work towards introducing stronger housing, zoning and rental by-laws.

9. Cooperate with the University of Manitoba to foster a neighbourly relationship

between homeowners and the University.

10. Work with WinnipegREALTORS® and The Canadian Real Estate Association to

ensure agents adhere to the REALTOR ® Code of Ethics in marketing and

selling houses and respecting the single family zoning by-laws.

11. Communicate and work with organizations in the community such as the

Winnipeg Police Service, Canadian Revenue Agency, Province of Manitoba

Taxation Branch, Residential Tenancy Branch, Canadian Federation of Students,

Municipal and Provincial

12. elected representatives, etc.




Top Concerns from Community Members

The increasing number of homes that were being rented to students in what

appeared to be a room house model.

The number of students that were living in single family rental homes sometimes

reaching as many as 10 per home.

The safety of these living situations, size of basement windows, smoke detectors,

rodent control

The declining live ability of these homes including the length of grass, weed

control, garbage, noise and number of vehicles parked.

University of Manitoba

In the last 5 years the overwhelming increase in the number of students has made

some of these issues critical. In that time the University of Manitoba has made a

strategic effort to increase the number of International Students attending both the

graduate and undergraduate programs. Their goal for the period 2013-2018 has been

exceeded by 30%. In 2010 they hosted 1294 students. In 2016 they are hosting 4847

students or 16.2% of the university population. In this time there has not been any

significant increase in student housing. Affordable housing in south Winnipeg has the

lowest vacancies rates in the city. This has created a market for developers to buy up

homes in the area and either convert them for room house like use or simply rent them

to large numbers of students.

Protecting Students

It has been our intention in dealing with the bylaw enforcement, fire department and the

University of Manitoba that many of these living situations are dangerous and many of

these students are vulnerable. They come from other countries, without family supports

and a sense of their rights as tenants. We have worked to educate these students and

are committed to continuing this work.




Action and Goals

Licensing requirements We know that in other Canadian jurisdictions such as London, Waterloo and Oshawa

and many American states, there are licensing requirements that would help ensure that

properties meet the bylaw, building code and fire safety standards. Our organization

feels that this approach would go a long way to ensuring the safety and security of

these students while helping to preserve the wonderfully diverse community that we call

home.

Require rental properties to have the owner’s (or property manager’s) contact

information available in case of emergency.

Require rental properties to have a property manager if the owner does not live in

Winnipeg.

Progress Updates on Licensing Requirements

Apr 31, 2017: Councillor Janice Lukes has requested that the Winnipeg Public consult

with other municipalities that have implemented regulatory licensing requirements for single-

family homes with rental rooms, and report back within 90 days with an implementation plan

to identify, license and inspect single family dwellings with rental rooms in in the area

adjacent to the University of Manitoba (i.e. Fort Richmond, Agassiz, Montcalm and University

Heights). See more information on her website: http://janicelukes.ca/blog/need-for-safe-legal-

housing-options-around-u-of-m/


http://janicelukes.ca/blog/need-for-safe-legal-housing-options-around-u-of-m/

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/need-for-safe-legal-housing-options-around-u-of-m/



City of Winnipeg By-laws Look at the By-law that defines what a single family dwelling is (the definition of a

family). What changes to we need to make to firm up how it is decided if the people

living in a room are single family? Can we go by them having a single lease? Can we

say no deadlocks or key locks on bedroom doors means a family?

Updates on By-laws changes

Sep 1, 2016 - New Restrictions re Vehicles on Residential Property. More info:

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/new-restrictions-re-vehicles-on-residential-property/

Fire Inspections & Illegal Rooming Houses

Updates on Fire Safety

On February 11, 2017, Sherry Reich, Senior Fire Prevention Officer for the City of Winnipeg,

presented an information session on Winnipeg Fire Codes related to legal and illegal

rooming houses. See more information here: http://janicelukes.ca/blog/fire-inspections-

illegal-rooming-houses/

April 3, 2017 – Fire on Pasedena Ave in an illegal rooming house – no student injured

but many were displaced.

April 10, 2017 - Introduction of Fees for Inspections of Illegal Rooming Houses - New

Fire Prevention by-law which makes the total potential Fire Prevention fee for operating

an illegal rooming house in the THOUSANDS of dollars. More information here:

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/new-fire-prevention-by-law-new-inspection-fees-with-focus-on-

illegal-rooming-houses/


http://janicelukes.ca/blog/new-restrictions-re-vehicles-on-residential-property/

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/fire-inspections-illegal-rooming-houses/

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/fire-inspections-illegal-rooming-houses/

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/new-fire-prevention-by-law-new-inspection-fees-with-focus-on-illegal-rooming-houses/

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/new-fire-prevention-by-law-new-inspection-fees-with-focus-on-illegal-rooming-houses/



City of Winnipeg

Find out if we can setup a registry to list which houses have received compliance fines, a

registry like the bed bug registry for hotels, the health a food registry for restaurants, or

like the Better Business Bureau registry for businesses? A rental property is essentially

business after all. *Note if house changes ownership then new owner can apply to have

company removed or at least listed to have a new owner in the registry.

o Important point!! Student's have a right to know if the room they are looking to

rent has a safe track record or not. We need to give students the tools to be sure

they are getting a safe room before they decide to rent. Many are renting "sight

unseen" so this would be a good tool for them.

o We are looking for something similar to what the province provides for "Health

Protection Reports" for Restaurants:

http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/publichealth/environmentalhealth/protection/report.h

tml

Transportation - Connecting bike corridors

Bus routes to broaden the university catchment in to St Norbert

Homestay, Home share & Student Co-op housing Homestay Programs - Discuss removing the meal plan portion on some agreements

Home Share concept between seniors (or other) and students. (Promote through PAL

55+?)

o Homeshare is a program that is very common in the United Kingdom. It is

essentially an exchange of services, such as a householder offering

accomodation to a homesharer in exchange for an agreed level of help. The

main advantage with this system is that both parties benefit from it. A significant

percentage of the residents in Fort Richmond are elderly and could benefit from

services offered by a similar program. Also, this could be a possible solution to

the lack of affordable housing in the neighbourhood that is causing an escalation

in the rooming house problem.

Student Co-ops offer students an opportunity to practice democratic decision-making,

and feel a part of a community. Ideal for international students as rents are affordable,

lease lengths are flexible, rooms can come furnished or not, and with meal plans or not.

Student-run indicates student interests would be top priority, so co-signing requirements

could be eliminated.


http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/publichealth/environmentalhealth/protection/report.html

http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/publichealth/environmentalhealth/protection/report.html



Increase Legal & Affordable Student Housing Close to Campus

City of Winnipeg - Zoning changes - Investigate possible overlap zoning to allow areas

of multifamily dwellings on collector streets? U of M Report recommends Dalhousie.

Reduce restrictions on the building of secondary suites

Investigate Homestay, home share and student co-op housing as described above.

Working with U of M to encourage up to 20% affordable housing to be developed in their

Southwood lands development.

Updates on Affordable Student Housing

Oct 6, 2016 - New Student Oriented Apartments on Pembina. More info:

http://janicelukes.ca/ward-priorities/rental-housing/new-student-oriented-apartments-on-

pembina/

Feb 1, 2017 - U of M Transportation Study Recommends Increasing Affordable Student

Housing Close to Campus. More info here: http://janicelukes.ca/blog/u-of-m-

transportation-study-recommends-increasing-affordable-student-housing-close-to-

campus/

Continued Cooperation with University of Manitoba

We are continuing to meet with the University of Manitoba on a variety of issues:

Investigate the concept of a Town and Gown committee

Investigate how to best be involved with the trustee committee for the Southwood

Development to ensure adequate affordable housing is planned (student coops or low

income apartments) at 10% to 20% affordable housing.

Red river has an affordable housing plan, we will be looking into how they went about

developing and implementing this plan.

Student Union and Graduate Student Union

o Investigate the concept of a Town and Gown committee

o Review the findings of the student housing survey.

o Set up future student housing surveys

o Talk about student cooperative housing


http://janicelukes.ca/ward-priorities/rental-housing/new-student-oriented-apartments-on-pembina/

http://janicelukes.ca/ward-priorities/rental-housing/new-student-oriented-apartments-on-pembina/

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/u-of-m-transportation-study-recommends-increasing-affordable-student-housing-close-to-campus/





Updates

Sep 15, 2016 - U of M Presents Plan for Development Over Next 30 Years. More info:

http://janicelukes.ca/ward-priorities/rental-housing/u-of-m-presents-plan-for-

development-over-the-next-30-years-open-house-september-29-30/

Jan 26, 2017 - U of M Master’s Students Release Research Findings on Illegal Rooming

Houses. More info: http://janicelukes.ca/blog/u-of-m-masters-students-release-research-

findings-on-illegal-rooming-houses/

Mortgage and Insurance Institutions

Find out what are the mortgage regulations on rental properties vs owner

occupied dwellings?

What are insurance requirements for how many and what type of people can live

in or rent a house

Association Funding Request funding for established Neighbourhood Associations

Community Development Plan a community gathering to Celebrate community & Recruit Volunteers


http://janicelukes.ca/ward-priorities/rental-housing/u-of-m-presents-plan-for-development-over-the-next-30-years-open-house-september-29-30/

http://janicelukes.ca/ward-priorities/rental-housing/u-of-m-presents-plan-for-development-over-the-next-30-years-open-house-september-29-30/

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/u-of-m-masters-students-release-research-findings-on-illegal-rooming-houses/

http://janicelukes.ca/blog/u-of-m-masters-students-release-research-findings-on-illegal-rooming-houses/



Actions already taken

The Neighbourhood Association has taken a number of actions over the last year to

assist students and residents in creating a safe and loveable neighbourhood.

1. We have met with University officials in to have them include information on living

off campus in their International and Domestic Student Orientations

2. We developed a website www.neighbourhoodassociaton.ca where residents and

students can find all the bylaws the city has addressing some of the situations

sited above. In addition we developed postcards that can be run off to put in

neighbouring mailboxes where violations are occurring and clearly delineated the

process by which complaints can be made to the bylaw officials.

3. We developed postcards that direct students to the website so they can better

understand their rights and responsibilities as tenants and better understand

what is, by Canadian standards, an unsafe and unacceptable living arrangement.

These have been distributed at Orientation sessions and in Orientation

packages.

4. We recruited Street Captains for the streets in the neighbourhood with the

greatest concern and have had the street captains deliver postcards that direct

the residents to the website where the tools are available. To date we have had

two delivery blitzes. In addition the Street Captains have assisted in creating a

list of rental properties that are of concern for comparison with property tax lists.

5. We have recruited the Planning/Design 1 students at the University of Manitoba

to study the neighbourhood and report on recommendations to assist us moving

forward. They have presented to the community and created 3 excellent reports

to inform our actions for the future.

6. There have been a number of information sessions on rental property bylaws, fire

code bylaws and other planning issues held for community members and efforts

have been made to include other neighbourhood associations in our programs.


http://www.neighbourhoodassociaton.ca/



Fort Richmond Zoning

The built form of Fort Richmond is almost exclusively low-density suburban. Few buildings

exceed four storeys, and the ones that do are closer to Pembina Highway. As shown in Figure

15 single-family housing (R1) and areas containing

multi-family (RMF), two-family (R2) and commercial (C) zoning are sectioned off with very little

mix of uses. The neighbourhood is dotted with parks and forested spaces.




Fort Richmond Statistics

Population Statistics

Since 1971 the population of Fort Richmond has increased by 47.4%, reaching its peak

population in 1991 and subsequently decreasing by 7.7% since then. In 2011, Fort Richmond

accounted for 4.8% of the City of Winnipeg’s total population.

Family structure within Fort Richmond is fairly homogenous with the majority of

households identifying as single family.

In 2011, 60.2% of census families had more than one child, whereas 45.1% had one

child.

The average annual household income of Fort Richmond is $77,128, reflecting the high

postsecondary graduates in the neighbourhood, where 59.6% of its population has

acquired a variety of post secondary education types.

The proportion of visble minorites in Fort Richmond is 12% higher than the City of

Winnipeg.

The largest increase in immigration occured from 2001-2011.

This influx has resulted in a large population of people with Chinese heritage, which in

2011 represented 10.8% of the total Fort Richmond population.

Residents with Chinese heritage as well as South Asia, the Philippines, Latin America,

Korea, and people of African descent constituted over 28% of the Fort Richmond.

Rental vs Ownership Statistics

In Fort Richmond, 66.9% of dwellings are owned and 33.1% are rented, which is

consistent with the city average of 66.1% and 33.9% respectively. The nearby

neighbourhood of Richmond West has a significantly higher rate of ownership at 82.5%.

There is a lower percentage of owner-occupied dwellings in Fort Richmond (58.77%)

than in Winnipeg as a whole (66.1%).

According to census data, the average value of a dwelling in Fort Richmond is

$272,786,16 but a sample of 10 adjacent properties along the river revealed an average

of $670,000, compared with 10 central properties that averaged $318,000.

The average gross rent is reported as $910 per month, considerably higher than the city-

wide average of $749.




Housing Prices Fort Richmond’s average dwelling value is $15,212 more than in Winnipeg. Overall dwelling

values rose at a nearly identical rate in Winnipeg and Fort Richmond between 2006 and 2011.

Income Statistics

Languages Spoken The 2011 NHS figures on foreign languages spoken and places of birth indicated a higher

proportion of people from China, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, and Iran compared to the city

as a whole.10 These statistics reflect the diverse heritage found in Fort Richmond.




Age of Population

In 2011, Fort Richmond had proportionately more student-aged population (ages 15-29) than

the city of Winnipeg (29.4% vs. 21.2%). Additionally, the middle-aged population (ages 30-64) is

less in Fort Richmond than the City (41.4% vs. 47.6%).8 Between 1996 and 2011, the growth of

seniors (age 65+) and student-aged populations in Fort Richmond have outpaced that of the

City, with each growing by approximately 5% in Fort Richmond while remaining generally static

in the city, as shown in Figure 17 below. Furthermore, the middle-aged population has declined

by 5% in Fort Richmond, even while growing by 2% in the rest of the City. This decline is seen

amongst all age brackets between 30 and 54, indicating an outflow of this age group from the

area, rather than simply an aging of the population.




University of Manitoba Statistics

U of M provides a bed to student ratio of 4.7% which is the lowest compared to all other

Universities in Canada with the highest being British Columbia at 18.7%.

Chart taken from the U of M Studies done by Master Students.




Glossery of Terms

Afforable Housing

Drawing on Manitoba Housing’s rent-geared-to income definition, affordability is when a family

or individual spends a maximum of 27% of household income on housing. While higher-income

people may choose to spend more on housing and still have enough to live life as they please,

for lowerincome earners, spending more than this detracts from their ability to provide for basic

needs. Manitoba Housing’s Affordable Rental Program also defines the following costs per suite

as affordable: Studio ($607); 1 Bedroom ($880); 2 Bedroom ($1,092); 3 Bedroom ($1,182); 4+

Bedroom ($1,425).

Attached Secondary Suite

A private, self-contained unit within an existing dwelling.

Student Co-op

A Collectively owned housing structure, where individual members ‘buy-in’ through annual or

monthly fees. A co-op is often run by a board made up of residents. Co-ops are democratically

controlled by residents, so they are able to respond to unique and individual needs.

Rooming House (Single Room Occupancy or SRO)

A zoning category that allows for the rental of rooms in a house with shared facilities. Differs

from boarding in that the owner of the property does not have to live on the premises. Normally

restricted to multi-family residential and commercial zoning districts.

Reference Documents

OurWinnipeg This City of Winnipeg planning document focuses on creating a city that supports various

lifestyles, through options for work, play, housing styles, transportation options, and basic

ammenities and services. It provided an overall City of Winnipeg framework to follow.

Complete Communities This document supports the Our Winnipeg document, and provides tools and approaches to

guide land use and development in Winnipeg. It provides context to Winnipeg’s urban structure,

describes key initiatives for different areas throughout Winnipeg, and provided a planning

framework for Fort Richmond.




Visionary (re)Generation Master Plan This University of Manitoba document sets out the master plan for its Fort Garry campus. It

identifies the main areas for future development and improvement, provided insight into how the

Univeristy intends to address the issue of student housing and its impact on surrounding areas.

Winnipeg Zoning By-law 200/06 This document provide context to the City of Winnipeg’s zoning regulations, and regulates land

uses in specified districts. It provided context to land use in Fort Richmond.

Winnipeg’s Community Incentive Grant Program Winnipeg’s Community Incentive Grant Program is designed to encourage non-profit community

organizations to undertake improvements, or purchase capital assets that are available for

public use (City of Winnipeg, 2016).

Change Log

Updated By Date Updated

Denise Crosbie Jun 1, 2016
